Plants and animals
by sourbrows
Summary: In which Derek surprises everyone by being a sweetie-pie.


a/n; this was written on my phone so it's even more poor quality than usual. It's just a little drabble because I feel bad about the Professor Glitter hiatus.

xx

It started when Derek and Stiles took Erica shopping and growled every time she held up something leather.

"Come on, Derek. It'll be cute, we'll match." she said, batting her eyelashes at him. Which of course, had no affect on him.

"No leather. No fur. Pick something that doesn't smell dead." he said before stomping out of the store to sulk by the potted plants.

They all thought it was weird, considering he wore a leather jacket, leather boots, and drove around in a car with leather interior. To the other wolves, the smell of leather was a nice smell, a strong musty smell that had strength to it.

xx

"You are not bringing that garbage into my house, Stilinski."

"Well technically it's a subway car," he said. "but yeah, okay, of course, whatever you say big guy." he added quickly after Derek gave him The Look. The Look usually meant Stiles was about to be caused bodily harm if he didn't amend his train of thought.

"What's wrong with pizza?" Scott whined from where he was sitting on the steps.

"It's disgusting and wrong." Derek said, growling.

"I know you're all Mr. Healthy-wolf but seriously?" Stiles asked, taking a step back so he was behind Isaac, who gave him a dirty look.

"Drop it, all of you. No pizza. Isaac, go get thai, you know what to order." Derek said firmly, before disappearing back into his subway car.

Nobody but pack saw Derek eat, and even then he was guarded, quick. The food was out of the take-away box and into his mouth before they could even see what colour it was. Isaac obviously knew, since he was the only one Derek seemed to trust to feed him, but he wouldn't say when Stiles asked.

"Why do you care?" he asked, looking at Stiles the way he always did, with confusion.

"Cause the guys a mystery! I assumed he was out hunting little helpless rabbits, and it turns out he likes thai!" Stiles said, throwing his hands up.

"We don't hunt rabbits." was all Isaac said, frowning.

xx

It was Derek's birthday. He was turning twenty-four, which had actually kind of surprised Stiles. He'd remembered Derek only being a few years older than them, but the guy looked about thirty, so he knew it was somewhere between there but he'd never been able to pinpoint his age.

It was all going great, they'd even managed, with their powers combined, to wrestle Derek into a party hat. He scowled about it but made no move to take it off after Erica took a picture and threatened to show everyone if he misbehaved.

Then Stiles ran out to his car to get his gift, which he'd left out there because he knew Derek would smell it if he didn't. As soon as he carried it into the kitchen Derek sniffed the air, eyes widening in shock. Stiles beamed happily and set the box down on the table.

"Fresh, organic, local." he said in a singsong voice, pushing it towards Derek. Derek stood up so fast his chair toppled over, and before Stiles knew what was happening he was being dragged across the table, his face slamming into the wood painfully.

"Get this thing out of my house before I shove it up your ass." Derek growled, and Stiles felt claws nick his collar bone where Derek held his shirt. With that Derek bounded out the back door and nobody saw him for the rest of the night. Things were awkwardly silent, until Scott mentioned that Derek was still wearing his party hat. They all thought about that. Derek, in his alpha form, crashing through the woods, with a party hat on top of his furry head. They all laughed so hard that they temporarily forgot about his odd behaviour.

Stiles took the steak he'd gotten for Derek home to cook for his father. It hadn't been a cheap cut, probably the most money Stiles ever had or ever would spend on a fuckin' joke. He tried not to dwell on why Derek had gotten so mad, but he couldn't help it.

xx

"You don't what?" Scott asked, mouth hanging open.

"Eat meat." Derek growled, arms crossed over his chest, staring angrily at the frozen turkey Scott was carrying in his arms.

"You're a werewolf!" Scott shouted.

"Exactly. Therefore I have respect for nature." Derek said, eyes flashing red before he continued. "Just as you should have respect for me, so take that away and come back with a suitable meal."

"It's Christmas!" Scott argued, pouting.

"You wear a dead cow every fucking day." Boyd said with a snort.

"It's personal." Derek said, shoulders hunching slightly, a clear sign that he didn't want to talk about it.

"And we're pack." Stiles said, looking Derek in the eye. The alpha growled slightly.

"It was my fathers. My mother was vegan and so me and my sister were too. My father was a hunter, stopped for my mother. The leather jacket was the only thing she let him keep. It's mine now." he said it all very quickly, his voice pinched and clearly uncomfortable.

"You're vegan." Erica said, raising one perfectly sculpted eyebrows. "Actual badass-alpha Derek Hale is a vegan." she said, and then she giggled. It wasn't long until everyone else was giggling too. It was an even shorter amount of time before Derek snatched the frozen turkey out of Scott's hands and hit him in the face with it before storming off.

xx

"What the hell do you want, Stilinski?" Derek asked, not even looking at him.

"I used to think you were out here hunting rabbits, like legit running around killing little creatures to stave off the human-killing-urges. Turns out no, you just like running around shirtless in the woods. Cause you're a vegan." Stiles had to pause, laughing too hard to continue. "Oh my god, you're becoming one with nature, are't you? You're out here doing yoga and channeling the earths energies." Stiles said, actually toppling over from how hard his laughs were shaking his body. He gasped for air and Derek just walked away, leaving him to cry to himself on the forest floor.

xx

Isaac had already known, and adopted Derek's habits. It wasn't just that Derek was vegan, he was a health food nut. Turns out he liked the thai place because they only used ingredients purchased at the local farmers market. In fact, Derek refused to eat anything that wasn't purchased at the local farmers market. He hated the factories and pesticides that poisoned the environment.

That wasn't the end of it though. Those animal hospital commercials with a sad music and the slo-mo kitten stares? They made Derek whimper. Full on lip pout, eyes tremble, puppy sound whimper. It was the most precious thing Stiles had ever seen. The image was cut short when Derek caught him looking and slapped him upside the head.

He loved animals, hated that cats were afraid of him, and if he saw an animal while on one of his runs, he'd stop and oggle at it. If he found a wounded animal, he'd drop it off at Deaton's anonymously. If he found a dead one, he'd bury it. It was kind of surreal to everyone, really. The fact that instead of hunting and eating baby rabbits, Derek was actually actively invested in protecting them.

Turns out he sent the majority of his money to charities, all for animals. Animal sanctuaries, pet hospitals, human societies, even the World Wildlife Foundation. Basically, if his money would go to helping protect animals, he gave it to them.

xx

One day Stiles walked Derek purposefully passed a pet shop he knew had kittens in the window. Derek stopped and turned, a scowl plastered on his face, but Stiles knew it was fake. As soon as he caught sight of a little tabby kitten who was chasing his tail, Derek let out a pained sound, and his eyes lit up with joy. The kitten was behind glass, so it didn't notice that Derek was a werewolf.

"You know, if you got one young enough, you could probably teach it not to be afraid of you." Stiles said, leaning over to nudge Derek with his elbow.

"It's instinct, it's not something you can change."

"Aren't werewolves hunters by nature? You said your dad stopped, for your mum. You don't do it either, you do the opposite." Stiles tapped the glass in front of the kitten Derek was looking at, getting it's attention. It opened it's mouth in a meow that they couldn't hear from outside, and began licking the glass where Stiles' finger was. Derek let out a whine next to him, and Stiles chuckled.

"Are there any animals you could have as a pet? What about a dog?"

"A dog would only see me as an alpha, and I'd feel bad."

"You'd feel bad about being the alpha? Holy shit. Who are you and what have you done with Derek Hale."

"It's a puppy not a werewolf!" Derek snapped, and Stiles just smiled.

"I have the perfect pet for you. Wait here." Stiles said, and he went into the pet store before Derek could even protest. It took him fifteen minutes to get everything taken care of. He'd picked an all black one, to go with Derek's everything, and told the girl to ring him up as quickly as possible. If Derek got impatient, he'd just leave, and Stiles would have to carry the thing home all by himself.

When he stepped back outside Derek was crouched down in front of the window, cooing softly at the kitten. Stiles just gaped for a moment, but as soon as Derek registered him being there the smile evaporated from his face and he stood up.

"Look!' Stiles shouted, holding the cage in front of Derek's face.

"You got me a rabbit?" Derek asked.

"Yep!" Stiles said, beaming. "Just don't let your beta's eat it."

xx

"So what about the boots, and the car seats?" Stiles asked, sitting in Derek's Camaro and rubbing his ass against the seat to make it squeak, just because he knew Derek hated it.

"Fake." Derek said, and Stiles just laughed.


End file.
